Old Bloke On An Old Bike
The story of the restoration of a 1950s classic bicycle for a Land's End – John O'Groats charity ride in aid of Alzheimer's Society
21 May 2016: The route
Well, here’s the plan – 18 stages. And no rest day! It’s an unusual route, taking in stops with friends and family and a stop in Shipley to visit Ellis Briggs, where the frame of my bike was originally built in December 1949.
The distance for each stage (averaging 57.5 miles) is a rough estimate – almost certainly an underestimate, given the state of my navigation. It’s quite likely that we’ll achieve the 65-mile a day average that we’re aiming for.
The longest stage, Aviemore-Lairg (86 miles), will be very tough – particularly if there’s any sort of headwind. Total distance will be just over 1,000 miles.
| Stage | Destination | Distance | Total | Average |
| 1 | Truro | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 2 | Bude | 64 | 114 | 57 |
| 3 | Tiverton | 54 | 168 | 56 |
| 4 | Cheddar | 61 | 229 | 57 |
| 5 | Ross-on-Wye | 64 | 293 | 59 |
| 6 | Stokesay | 50 | 343 | 57 |
| 7 | Stone | 53 | 396 | 57 |
| 8 | Dore | 58 | 454 | 57 |
| 9 | Shipley | 57 | 511 | 57 |
| 10 | Ireby | 48 | 559 | 56 |
| 11 | Brampton | 65 | 624 | 57 |
| 12 | Innerleithen | 65 | 689 | 57 |
| 13 | Kinross | 59 | 748 | 58 |
| 14 | Pitlochry | 47 | 795 | 57 |
| 15 | Aviemore | 57 | 852 | 57 |
| 16 | Lairg | 86 | 938 | 59 |
| 17 | Armadale | 52 | 990 | 58 |
| 18 | John O’Groats | 45 | 1035 | 58 |
About me
Old Bloke On An Old Bike 